The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced it will enter into realty negotiations with Hecate Energy, LLC for a solar project capable of delivering up to one-gigawatt of clean energy within an 8,000-acre area of DOE owned land at the Hanford Site as part of the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative. The Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative aims to repurpose parts of DOE-owned lands-portions of which were previously used in the nation’s nuclear weapons program-to support the growth of America’s clean energy economy. Today’s announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to leveraging federal properties to increase the deployment of clean power through the buildout of utility-scale clean energy projects.
“Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, we’ve added nearly 90 gigawatts of solar capacity to the grid-enough to power roughly 13 million homes-and we’re building on this historic progress with another massive solar project,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With today’s announcement, DOE is transforming thousands of acres of land at our Hanford site into a thriving center of carbon-free solar power generation, leading by example in cleaning up our environment and delivering new economic opportunities to local communities.”
“Through today’s announcement by the Department of Energy, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to lead by example on building a clean energy economy and carbon pollution-free future,” said Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “Expanding clean energy generation creates good-paying jobs, protects the environment, and supports healthier communities across the country.”
Working with a diverse range of entities, including industry, other Federal agencies, tribes, state and local officials, DOE, through its Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, is helping achieve President Biden’s ambitious climate goals and responding to the directive in Executive Order 14057 and the accompanying Federal Sustainability Plan for agencies to use their properties for the development of new clean electricity generation.
Hecate Energy, LLC will have the opportunity to negotiate a realty agreement for up to 8,000 acres at Hanford that DOE is making available for development of a gigawatt-scale solar photovoltaic system with battery storage. The selection was made through a competitive qualifications-based process for evaluating and ranking proposals. The selection comes after public comments on a request for information in August 2023, a Cleanup to Clean Energy information day at Hanford in September 2023, and a request for qualifications issued in March 2024. DOE and Hecate Energy will undergo a negotiation process for a realty agreement, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.
In December 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14057, which calls on agencies to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2030 and directs them to authorize use of their real property assets, including land for the development of new clean electricity generation and storage through leases, grants, permits, or other mechanisms.
Since announcing the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative in July 2023, last year, DOE has announced the selection of developers for carbon pollution-free electricity projects in Idaho, Nevada, South Carolina, and now in Washington state. Home to the Hanford Site, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a vibrant community and Tribal Nations, this part of Washington state has been critical to our nation for decades and is well positioned to become a center of carbon-free power solutions.
In addition to supporting the Administration’s clean energy goals, this project has the potential to benefit the Hanford site, Tribal Nations, and surrounding communities, while complementing local efforts to plan for the future. DOE will complete environmental review and applicable regulatory processes, and continue to communicate and partner with industry, Tribal Nations, communities, stakeholders, regulators, and others as clean energy projects are developed on DOE land.